Self-threading yarn tension device



June 8, 1954 F. F. STANGE SELF-THREADING YARN TENSION DEVICE Filed Aug. 17, 1950 E 06 M c m E mm mm 5 W v, m M R r h f n x w w ATTORNEYS.

June 8, 1954 STANGE 2,680,572

SELF-THREADING YARN TENSION DEVICE Filed Aug. 17, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. FERD/NANb F STA/v6:

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ATTORNEYS.

June 8, 1954 F. F. STANGE SELF-THREADING YARN TENSION mzvxcs 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 17, 1950 INVENTOR. FERDINAND F 5 "IA/v05 ww ATTORNEYS.

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June 8, 1954 F. F. STANGE 2,680,572

SELF-THREADING YARN TENSION DEVICE Filed Aug. 17, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet-4 1N VEN TOR. FERD/NAND E STA/V05 WWM Patented June 8, 1954 SELF-THREADING YARN TENSION DEVICE Ferdinand F. Stange, Westfield, Mass., assignor to Foster -Machine Company, Westfield, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application August 17, 1950, Serial No. 179,962

The present invention relates to a novel and improved yarn tension device which is selfthreading and is particularly adapted for use with automatic winding machines of the type in which the leading end of a yarn to be fed from a reserve bobbin after it has been joined, as by knotting, to the trailing end of a yarn on the package being wound.

Objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part hereinafter and in part will be obvious herefrom, or may be learned by practice with the invention, the same being realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations pointed out in the appended claims.

The invention consists in the novel parts, constructions, arrangements, combinations and improvements herein shown and described.

The accompanying drawings, referred to herein and constituting a part hereof, illustrate one embodiment of the invention, and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

Of the drawings:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the preferred, and a typical and illustrative embodiment of the present invention, and showing the reserve yarn end in the position where the operative has placed it as the reserve bobbin was inserted in the bobbin holder, and with the trailing end of the wound yarn found and brought into proximity to the reserve end so the two ends may be Joined, as by knotting;

Figure 2 is a front elevation showing the upper portion of the parts shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1 and looking to the right of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary similar view looking to the left of line 44 on Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 1;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line B-6 of Figure 1;

Figure '7 is a sectional view taken on the irregular line of Figure 1;

Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 88 of Figure '7;

Figure 9 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 9--9 of Figure '7; and

Figures 10 and 11 are top plan views, similar to Figure 1, but showing the parts in other positions of operation; Figure 10 showing the position of the yarn ends after the knot has been tied and Just as winding has been resumed, while Fig- 14 Claims. (Cl. 24235.6)

ure 11 shows the normal running position of the yarn as it is subjected to tension by the tension mechanism and after the parts have been returned to their normal operating position, ready to receive a new reserve bobbin.

The present invention has for its object the provision of a novel and improved self-threading yarn tension which positions the yarn in the tension device without subjecting the yarn to any excessive strain during the operation or as the yarn is restarted. A further object of the invention is the provision of a yarn tension device which is adapted to receive an end of a reserve bobbin, and is threaded by the mere running of the yarn and a change in position of the reserve yarn after the reserve end has been united with the end of the yarn already wound on a package. Still another object of the invention is the provision of an improved yarn tension device which may be mounted directly above a bobbin holder to hold an active and a reserve bobbin, which will pass the knot by which the two yarn ends are united, and which will, independently of the normal tension device, apply a sufficient strain on the knot to test the knot and cause it to come untied if it is defective in any way.

In many respects, the yarn tension device of the present invention is an improvement upon and is particularly adapted for use in connection with the general type of automatic winding machine shown and described in the various prior patents of Foster Machine Company, such as the patent to Cotchett and others, No. 2,407,366 granted September 10, 1946.

The present embodiment of the invention is shown as illustratively applied to an automatic winder of the general construction referred to and as mounted on the upper portion of a rotatable bobbin holder serving to move a reserve bobbin from its reserve position to its active position and to doif the exhausted bobbin after the leading end of the-yarn on the reserve bobbin has been united with the trailing end of the yarn being wound on the package. Such a bobbin holder for automatic winding machines is shown and claimed in my prior copending application Serial No. 155,615, filed April 11, 1950.

The present invention comprises a yarn tension mechanism for applying tension or a drag to the running yarn as it is fed from the supply bobbin to the package being wound, means for holding the leading end of a yarn on the reserve bobbin, means for initially guiding the united ends of the reserve yarn and the running yarn past the tension means so that the knot or other union of the yarns does not exert an excessive pull or strain on the yarns, and guide means operated by the running of the yarn for guiding the yarn into the yarn tension means so that once the bobbin has been positioned with its free yarn end in its holder the remainder of the operations may be automatically carried out by the running of the yarn.

The bobbin holder provides a support for a plurality of bobbins, one of which is normally feeding yarn to the package being wound, while the other is a reserve bobbin ready to be moved into active position when the yarn from the active bobbin is exhausted, the bobbins preferably being positioned parallel to and for rotation about an axis which is inclined slightly to the vertical, with the yarn being fed off the upper end of the active bobbin. Many such bobbin holders are provided in the automatic winding machine, pref erably arranged in two parallel rows which are on opposite sides of the machine so that a single knotting tender may successively operate on each unit, as the tender progresses past each unit, first on one side of the machine and then on the other side of the machine.

It will be understood that the foregoing general description and the following detailed description as well are exemplary and explanatory of the invention but are not restrictive thereof.

Referring now in detail to the accompanying drawings which show a preferred, typical and illustrative form of the present invention, the frame in of the winding machine provides a rigid support for the slightly inclined rod H, forming a shaft for the rotatable member [2 on which are supported two parallel pins l4 adapted to enter and support the bobbin cores it. Each of the pins I4 is pivotally mounted so that it may swing radially on member l2 about the shaft I i, its normal inward position being shown in Figures 3 and '7, while on rotation of the member 12 the formerly active bobbin which is now exhausted is positively doffed by means of the cam surface [8 which engages with the lower portion of pin l4 and the bottom end of the exhausted bobbin l6. Where the bobbin holder is constructed to support two bobbins, means are provided for rotating the bobbin holding mechanism a halfrevolution each time the bobbin is to be repositioned, and for this purpose a pinion 20 is fast to the lower end of the rotatable member i2 and is adapted to be engaged and turned by the travelling rack 22 which forms a part of the travelling tender (not shown) which also carries the knotter to unite the two yarns. The number of the teeth of rack 22 is such that the pinion 20 and the bobbins rotated thereby are turned a half-revolution on eachactuation.

The self-threading tension mechanism of the present invention is illustratively supported at the upper end of the shaft H, and may be steadied by means of an additional brace 24 which may be fastened to any convenient portion of the winding machine frame [0. The tension mechanism comprises a base frame 30 which may be clamped to the uppermost portion of the supporting rod ll, supports the various other portions of the tension mechanism and is relatively open in its construction providing good visibility through the base so that the operator may see the active bobbin, as well as providing a passageway for the yarn in its various positions. The steadying brace 24 is preferably attached at the left (Figure 1) tothe base It.

Means are provided for temporarily positioning the found or trailing end of the package yarn and the leading end of the reserve yarn in a position where they may be engaged by the uniting mechanism, and these means are preferably supported on an extension 3i of the base frame 30. As embodied, between the tension mechanism and the operator, that is at the front side of the tension mechanism, is a support member 32, on the rear side of which is supported a plate 33 having a small yarn supporting hook 29 formed on the right end (as viewed in Figure l) and adapted to hold the found end F of the package yarn. Plate 33 is held by two screws passing through enlarged holes so that it has longitudinal movement for positional adjustment. A second yarn end holding means is provided adjacent hook 25 and comprises an upwardly extending fixed jaw 34 cooperating with a pivotally mounted resiliently urged jaw 36 between which the leading end B of the reserve yarn may be clamped and held. Jaw 34 is secured to base extension 3| and extends in front of and substantially perpendicular to plate 33, while jaw 35 is pivotally mounted on base extension 31 by means of a pivot stud 31 and is normally pressed into contact with the face of jaw 34 by means of a leaf spring 38 mounted on the jaw 36 and having its free end bearing against the side of a recess provided therefor in the base extension 3|. Release of the yarn end R from the jaws 34, 36 may be effected at the desired time by means of a cam bar 35, which is carried by the tender (not shown), striking the depending tail portion of the jaw 36 as the tender moves past the jaw.

A bobbin guide 40 surrounds the bobbin pin 14 in reserve position and serves to guide a bobbin onto the pin as the bobbin is dropped into the guide by the operator. The bobbin guide comprises a pair of hinged members forming a generally cylindrical chute, more or less coaxial with the pin i4, one of the hinged members moving away from the other as the bobbin is rotated to its active position. The bobbin guide Mi is supported from the base 38 by means of an arcuate member 42 extending laterally from the base 30 and fast thereto.

Positioned on the arcuate member 42 and extending upwardly therefrom is a first thread guide 43, formed from a smooth piece of wire, and providing a surface which is substantially parallel to the support 42 and substantially perpendicular to the bobbin pin it. Near its end, guide 43 is sharply bent rearwardly thereby providing a notch 44 in which the reserve yarn R is adapted to lie until after it has been joined to the wound yarn. The notch 4A is a point which lies on the line representing the shortest distance between the wound yarn on the end of the bobbin in its reserve position and the jaws 34, 36, while the wire between the notch M and its free end 45 forms a surface of progressively shorter distances measured from the jaws 3t, 38 to the end of the yarn mass on the bobbin when the bobbin is in its active position after knotting, and also facilitates juxtaposition of the two yarns just prior to knotting. Thus, the yarn normally tends to lie in the notch 44 while the bobbin is in its reserve position, but the yarn moves away from notch 44 and off the free end 45 of the guide 43 after it has been knotted and the reserve bobbin has become the active bobbin.

Conveniently, means are also provided for actasting the knotting mechanism and for cutting the free ends of the yarn after the knotting :5 operation has been completed. As embodied, a

pin 46 extends inwardly from a bar 28 secured on base extension 3| and serves to actuate the knotting mechanism as it passes longitudinally along the tension mechanism and in a path corresponding to the line 5-5 on Figure 1. On the upper side of extension 3| is a plate having actuating members 41 which serve to engage and actuate shears carried on the knotter so that the free ends of the yarn are cut away close to the knot, leaving only enough yarn at the knot to form a secure knot joining the two yarns.

Means are also provided on the tension frame base 30 for engaging the found end of the yarn wound on the package, that is the trailing end which in the Foster equipment is withdrawn from the package surface by suction and is brought forward at least as far as the jaws 34 and 36. As embodied, there are provided two wire guides 48, 49 extending upwardly from the base member 30 and the support 32 and inclined upwardly towards the approaching knotter-carrying tender which includes the suction mechanism for drawing the found or trailing end of the yarn from the wound package. The guides 48, 49 are positioned on opposite sides of the path of the knotter, and as the knotter passes the yarn R it engages the yarn R and draws it off from the first thread guide 43 while the guides 48 and 49 engage the found end F and operates to unite the ends and to sever the excess free ends of the yarns F and R close to the knot K. The severing action frees the reserve yarn R from the jaws 34 and 36, which were opened by cam 35, so that winding of the package may be resumed.

Means are provided for applying an initial tension to the yarn just after the knotting and severing operations so that the knot K may be tested and tightened. For this purpose there is provided a passageway through which the reserve yarn end R must move and be subjected to a light drag as exerted by a resiliently mounted jaw pressed towards an inclined guiding jaw member the two jaws forming together the said passageway. As embodied, a rigid wire 50, bent to form an inclined surface 5| is mounted on the upper surface of the base 30, the surface 5| extending approximately parallel to the eventual path of the running yarn during the winding operation. Cooperating with the surface 5| is a jaw 53 pivoted at its rear end by means of a screw 54 and resiliently urged into contact with the surface 5| by means of a light coil spring 55. The forward end 56 of the jaw 53 is bent away from the surface 5| and beveled sharply downwardly so as to form a guide finger to pick up the yarn R and cause it to enter the forward end of the passageway formed by wire 50 and jaw 53.

Means are provided for keeping the reserve yarn end R and the found end F separate from each other while the slack is being taken up and for this purpose, a guide spur extends towards the approaching knotterand tender and is mounted on a portion of the base 30. The free end of the spur 58 overlies the free end of the first thread guide 45, while the forward edge of the spur forms an extension of the rear edge 59 of a slot 80 leading to the yarn guide 8|. slot 60 is slightly inclined to the path of travel of the tender and its left end is slightly to the rear of its right end, thereby tending to draw the yarn leftward as tension is applied to the yarn, and as the reserve bobbin moves to active position. The spur l8 and its continuation to the left (Figure 1) of the slot I lie slightly below the wire guide 50 and together form a relatively long chord on the arc described by the upper end of the reserve bobbin moving to active position.

As the bobbin so moves, as shown in Figure 10, the winding operation is reinitiated, the slack is taken up in the united yarns, the reserve yarn is drawn off from the end 45 of the first yarn guide 43 by movement of the reserve bobbin and by the knotting operation, and is positioned first beneath the end of spur 58 and then in the right hand portion of slot 60. Thereafter, the knot K and the found end F are guided over the bent end 56 of the jaw 53 by means of the rearwardly and downwardly directed curved end 64 of the spur 58, so that as the slack is fully taken up and tension is applied to the running yarn, the yarn enters the gate at the forward end of the jaw 53 and spreads the jaw away from the surface 5|. As the bobbin continues to move to the active position, and as the yarn continues to be wound, the yarn travels further to the left of the slot 30 and rearwardly of the passageway between 5| and 53, finally enters the stationary guide SI and slides off the rear under end of the surface 5|, assuming the final position as shown in Figure 11 of the drawings.

Tension means are provided for exerting a drag or tension on the running yarn as it is Wound onto the package from the bobbin. Many different forms of tension mechanism may be used having an opening on one side through which the yarn may be entered to position it in tensioning relation to the mechanism, but the illustrative and preferred means comprise an inverted cup 65 having a substantially flat, smooth uppermost surface 66, the flat surface being surrounded by a smoothly curved and downwardly turned edge portion located on a ring 61 formed as a portion of the base 30 and held against displacement by means of a central post 63 rising from the base 30 centrally of the ring 61. Resting on the cup 55 is a smaller cup having a substantially flat, smooth surface Hi surrounded by a smoothly curved edge which turns upwardly to form a flange II, and is likewise held on the post 68. The concave side of the smaller cup is adapted to receive one or more replaceable weighted washers 12 by which the drag on the running yarn may be regulated. The yarn is adapted to be positioned between the parallel, disc-like fiat faces 68 and 10 which are spaced apart by the yarn between them.

Slub catchin means are also provided which are threaded simultaneously with the threading of the tension mechanism, and are preferably alined with the parallel faces 66 and 10 of the discs so that the yarn has a straight run from the tension mechanism through the slub catcher. As embodied, the rear edge of the base member 30 is formed with an upper flat straight edge 13 of substantial length and slight width which cooperates with a parallel substantially equal edge 14 formed integrally with the base 30 and held thereto by means of a yoke arm 15, which is relatively long and has considerable resiliency. At orie end, the straight edges 18 and 14 are preferably enlarged and receive a screw 11, one end of which is threaded in the base 30, while the other end is rotatable in the enlarged end of the edge 14, thereby serving as a fine posltional adjustment for the spacing of the parallel edges 13 and I4 so that these edges may be moved towards each other against the resiliency of the yoke 15. The edges 13 and 14 will be spaced from each other in 7 accordance with the size of the yarn being wound.

The free ends of the edges 13 and T4 are rounded so as to facilitate entry of the yarn into the slub catcher as the yarn moves from the right to left (Figure 6). The free end of the edge 14 may conveniently form the support for the rear portion of the guide 50, which is so positioned relatively thereto that its lower edge is closely adjacent to the rounded or curved portion of the edge 74.

Figures 1, 10 and 11 also show the relative po sition of the detector mechanism of conventional construction which serves to actuate the throwoff means whereby winding is stopped whenever the yarn fails through breakage or exhaustion. The feeler of the detector mechanism may comprise a pivoted wire member 80 which is in a position to be held depressed by the yarn, and the threading of the yarn through the tension mechanism by the present invention preferably also serves to position the yarn in a position such as to hold the detector feeler 80 depressed.

Figure 11 of the drawings shows the yarn running and properly threaded through both the tension mechanism and the slub catcher and in a position where it holds the detector feeler depressed, while the pin i4 formerly serving to hold the active bobbin has now been swung to the position where it is ready to receive a new reserve bobbin when it is inserted by the operator. As the operator inserts this new reserve bobbin, she will also position the free end of the reserve yarn in the jaws 34, 36 as shown in Figure 1.

The invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific mechanisms shown and described but departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the accompanyin claims without departing from the principles of the invention and without sacrificing its chief advantages.

What is claimed is:

1. A self-threading yarn tension mechanism to be positioned above the upper end of a supply bobbin in yarn feeding position, yarn being drawn from the bobbin through a yarn guide by a package on which yarn is wound beyond the yarn guide, a yarn tension device including in combination an open side through which yarn may be introduced into the tension device as the yarn lies in its normal feeding path from the yarn guide to the winding package, a second yarn guiding member overlying the yarn tension device and extending laterally thereof, resilient means cooperating with an elongated portion of said yarn guiding means to form a resiliently closed slit, means for delivering a knotted yarn to said slit with the knot above the slit, the under side of said yarn guiding member providing a free passageway from the slit to the yarn guide and yarn tension device whereby the yarn is pulled through the slit and is delivered to the open side of the tension device by the running ofthe yarn.

2. A yarn tension mechanism as claimed in claim 1 in which the bobbin is bodily movable from a knotting position on one side of the slit to an active feeding position beneath the yarn guide on the other side oi the slit.

3. A yarn tension mechanism as claimed in claim 1 in which an open-ended slub catcher has its open end positioned in line with the normal feedin path of the yarn whereby it is threaded simultaneously with the threading on the tension device.

4. A yarn tension mechanism as claimed in claim- 1 in which means spaced from the yarn 8 guide and tension mechanism away from the winding package are provided for holding the end of the yarn on the reserve bobbin, the space between said means and the yarn guide forming a pathway through which a travelling knotter may move.

5. A self-threading yarn tension mechanism including in combination a substantially vertical bobbin holder for moving a bobbin from a reserve position to an active yarn feeding position, a yarn tension device having an open side through which yarn may be introduced into the tension device as the yarn lies in a normal feeding path from the bobbin to a package drawing the yarn from the bobbin, said yarn tension device being mounted on a support above the bobbin, a yarn uide eye adjacent the yarn tension device and over the upper end of the bobbin in active position, a passageway leading to the eye and lying alon the line of movement of the bobbin from reserve to active position, a, second yarn guide extending towards the reserve bobbin position and having a free passageway beneath it leading to the open side of the yarn tension device, a resiliently closed, elongated slit leading to said free passageway and extendin away from the first passageway leading to the eye guide, and means for guiding the yarn to one end of said slit with the yarn over one and under one of the members forming the slit, whereby the yarn is ripped lightly in the resilient slit as the bobbin is moved from reserve to active position after which the yarn is guided by the second yarn guide to the open side of the yarn tension which it enters as the yarn is drawn from the bobbin through the eye to the winding package.

6. A yarn tension mechanism as claimed in claim 5 in which an open-ended slub catcher is provided between the yarn tension device and the winding package with its open end lying in the normal path of the winding yarn.

'7. A yarn tension mechanism as claimed in claim 5 in which yarn end holding means in front of the passageway leading to the eye are provided and are spaced from said passageway to provide a pathway for a travelling knotter to unite the reserve yarn end with the yarn end from the package.

8. A yarn tension mechanism as claimed in claim '7 in which yarn engaging members extend upwardly on either side of said pathway to engage the yarn end from the package and associate it with the reserve yarn end.

9. A self-threading yarn tension mechanism including in combination a substantially vertical bobbin holder for moving the bobbin from a reserve position to an active position, a support above the upper end of the bobbin, a passageway leading from a point adjacent the upper end of the bobbin in reserve position to a yarn guiding eye in the support positioned above the upper end of the bobbin in active yarn feeding position, a resiliently closed, elongated slit extending from a point between the two positions of the bobbin towards a package on which the yarn is wound, said point being adjacent said passageway so that a yarn may pass from the bobbin through said passageway, into and through said slit, a yam guide positioned above said support and spaced therefrom and a yarn tension device mounted on the support and having an open side in the space between the yarn guide and support whereby a yarn passing through the eye to the windingpackage enters the yarn tension device.

10. A yarn tension mechanism as claimed in claim 9 in which a slub catcher having an open end is positioned with its open end in the space between the yarn guide and support and between the tension device and the winding package whereby it is threaded as the yarn tension device is threaded.

11. A yarn tension mechanism as claimed in claim 10 in which means are provided for delivering a knotted yarn to the slit with the knot above the slit whereby the yarn is pulled along and through said slit and the knot is prevented from entering the yarn tension device.

12. A yarn tension mechanism as claimed in claim 11, in which the resiliently closed slit is formed at one end of the yarn guide, in part by an elongated side thereof.

13. A yarn tension mechanism as claimed in claim 9 in which means are provided for de- 1O livering a knotted yarn to the slit with the knot above the slit whereby the yarn is pulled along and through said slit and the knot is prevented from entering the yarn tension device.

14. A yarn tension mechanism as claimed in claim 13 in which the resiliently closed slit is formed at one end of the yarn guide, in part by an elongated side thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Brainerd et a1 Apr. 24, 1951 

